69.1 km Dewas-Ujjain-Badnawar state highway announced as NH

The 69.1 km stretch of the Dewas-Ujjain-Badnawar section of state highway in Madhya Pradesh has been announced as a national highway. On Sunday, an announcement regarding this was made by Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways. This decision will render good NH connectivity in the Malwa area of Madhya Pradesh and add to the regional development by facilitating the agricultural & logistics sector. Regional authorities with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) told the media that a statement would be issued by the government and survey work would be taken up by NHAI soon. The existing 69.1 km state highway which links Dewas-Ujjain, and Dhar districts, was developed back in the year 2004 on build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode. NHAI's project director ML Purbiya told the media that an offer concerning the same was sent by the state to the Centre before, and it has been sanctioned. He said that 90% of the land needed for the construction has already been procured, and an amount of Rs 376 crore was approved for it. The total evaluated cost of this four-lane national highway project is Rs 1000 crore, said Purbiya, adding that this road will be constructed as a bypass route for Badnagar, Ingoriya and Badnawar with a distance of 2.5 km, 5 km, and 7 km, respectively. NHAI authorities added that this move would render better road connectivity options for the whole Malwa area and encourage agriculture and transportation sectors while guaranteeing regional growth. Image Source